Modern browsers, including Chrome, Firefox, Opera and Safari, include "geolocation" among the basic browser services. Geolocation for a browser means that when you visit a site that requests it to locate the position, as is also the case on smartphones, it can recognize the exact place from which you connect .
What they do is try to locate the computer in the world based on the IP address, WiFi or the network path.
This request to find the position of the PC is almost always displayed when visiting websites that want to personalize the experience and the information provided based on where the user is located, to better interact with some applications, with the maps, with shopping sites and with social networks.
For example, you can locate tweets on Twitter, Facebook updates and the position on Google and on Google Maps, so that you can speed up the creation of itineraries.
Obviously this option is not mandatory at all therefore, for those who care about privacy or for any other reason, you can easily disable location location on Chrome, Firefox, Edge, Opera, Safari or, as we will see at the end, you can also falsify geolocation .
READ ALSO: How to fake GPS and location on Android to look in a different place
To begin with, when a website wants to know where we are linking from, it always asks the user for permission to detect the position.
So even if the location service is active on the browser, to be used by external sites, there is a protection that prevents it from being automatic, with an authorization request.
1) In Google Chrome, you can disable the request for location from the Chrome settings by pressing the button at the top right with the three dots, going to Show advanced settings, then pressing the Content Settings button under the Privacy section and, finally, scroll down until you find the options on the Location .
You can decide to always receive requests for authorizations or not to allow any site to monitor our position in any case, also deactivating the request.
2) Localization on Firefox can be deactivated by opening the hidden configuration menu.
To access the hidden Firefox settings, type about: config in the address bar and open the configuration parameters.
From the top bar, look for the geo.enabled parameter and double click on it to make it false .
3) To disable the localization in Opera, which uses the same core of Chrome, press on the Menu in the upper left corner, go to Settings and then select the section of the Websites to find the options related to the Location.
4) In Internet Explorer it is possible to disable the location services from the Internet Options -> Privacy menu, selecting the " Do not allow websites to request the user's location " option.
5) To disable location tracking in Safari on Mac you must open the Mac System Preferences (not therefore in Safari) and then go to the Security and Privacy section and find the option that disables the location services under the Privacy section .
Alternatively, to deceive some sites, you can also declare a false position on Firefox and Chrome (which does not mean surfing in order to falsify the IP as you would using VPN programs)
On Firefox you can falsify the location by installing the Change Geolocation extension.
From the tools menu -> Geolocater -> Manage you can add, by clicking on the +, a new geographical position to tell the browser a false location that can be anywhere in the world.
When you access a website that wants to know the location, you can send this false information.
On Chrome you can use the Manual Geolocation extension, which allows you to choose from which part of the world to be located.
FINAL NOTE
Geolocation does not concern the privacy of the internet connection.
It is only an internet service for interacting with some online applications, so deactivating or falsifying it does not mean that it cannot be traced.
The IP address is not covered or artificially changed so there is no anonymity on the internet.
In other articles are written the methods to surf anonymously or to browse privately or incognito with browsers) which is still a different thing).
Another article explains how to use Tor and simulate connections from other countries with a foreign IP.
